The playoffs in the NBA are slowly getting going – and produced two away wins on Friday night. The shockingly pale Celtics were thwarted by Donovan Mitchell, while the Mavs took the lead as usual with Luka Doncic.
How far does the Dallas Mavericks travel in this year’s playoffs? In any case, on Friday night, Luka Doncic & Co. fueled the fans’ hopes with the series equalizer (1:1). The Texans won their away game at the Oklahoma City Thunder 119:110 – and thus gained an advantage.
Not surprisingly, Doncic led the way, scoring 16 of his 29 points in the first quarter before he was able to concentrate on other qualities (ten rebounds, seven assists). Kyrie Irving, who only sank two of his eight throws from the field into the basket, shone almost exclusively as a preparer (11).
The fact that the best team of the regular season from Oklahoma City had not lost in over a month makes clear how high the Mavs’ performance should be in a close battle. The last home defeat was on March 27th (against the Houston Rockets).
In addition to Doncic, the Texans also relied on the role players: PJ Washington, for example, like the Slovenian superstar, scored 29 points, hit an outstanding seven of his eleven three-pointers and collected eleven rebounds. 18 successful three-pointers – from 37 attempts – were also a big success factor for the Mavs.
On the Thunder’s side there was once again Canadian high-flyer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who narrowly missed a triple double (33 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists). But he didn’t receive any great support.
After the two opening games in Oklahoma City, Dallas will now welcome the favorites twice in a row in their own hall.
Boston disappoints – Cavs like 2018
The second result of the evening was much more surprising: The Boston Celtics, Eastern high-flyers in the regular season, suffered a heavy defeat in their home TD Garden against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the end there was a sobering 94:118 and the series equalizer (1:1).
Especially after the break, there was no match against Donovan Mitchell, who scored 29 points and hit five of his seven three-point attempts – Mitchell scored 23 of these 29 points after the second quarter. Caris LeVert also had 21 points. Meanwhile, the Celtics disappointed across the board, with Jayson Tatum (25 points) and Jaylen Brown (19 points) also unable to carry their team.
The Cavs ultimately celebrated a deserved and very special away win: their last one in Boston was in 2018 – when LeBron James and his Cavaliers won game seven of the Conference Finals at the Celtics.